Class

Poetry of Place

Every poem is written somewhere. But how do we invite place to fully enter our writing? In this course, we'll invite place to be an active collaborator in our creative process. Through writing exercises, readings, and class discussions, we'll try out new craft techniques, building stronger sensory worlds in our poems and creating physical, typographical landscapes on the page.

We'll write elegies and odes for the places we love, the ones we're most afraid of losing. We'll study place-based poetry movements such as Frank X. Walker's Affrilachian collective, Gwendolyn Brooks' monumental lyric examination of south side Chicago, and Kimberly Blaeser's work on highlighting water poems in the 97th volume of Prairie Schooner. We'll focus equally on urban and natural environments, looking for where the two often intersect in the Twin Cities, culminating on a small field trip to our very own Mississippi River. The teaching artist will give written feedback to each student on up to two poems per week related to the class topic. Bring a small object that reminds you of a place you love on the first day of class.

Please email [email protected] at least two to three weeks in advance if you have any accessibility requests for this class. PLEASE NOTE: the elevator in Open Book will be unavailable for use from July - August 2025 due to modernization. This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.